While Governor Rick Snyder’s budget proposal for next year includes a nearly 4.4 percent increase for higher education, that doesn’t necessarily mean tuition increases will be lower. In fact, the current 3.2 percent tuition increase cap which legislators have placed on state-supported universities is increased under the Snyder plan, to 4.8 percent.
Daniel Hurley, CEO of the Michigan Association of State Universities, says the budget provides schools a chance to make up for lagging funding in recent years. Hurly says when you consider what he calls a profound disinvestment by the state over the years, the 4.4 percent funding increase does not make up for that.
The governor’s plan still must be approved by the legislature. Critics are raising questions about increasing the cap, noting that the consumer price index only went up seven-tenths of a percent last year.
